Celebrating The 70th Anniversary Of The Battle Of Iwo Jima

Many people may have never known about the victory of U.S. Soldiers on this day, February 23, 1945, had it not been for a photo and a story.  Many veterans organizations across the region and across America pause for a moment to remember the battle that took the lives of 6,821 U.S. fighting men and 18,441 Japanese soldiers in what was known as "Operation Detachment."

The battle began on February 19, 1945 and the mission was to secure the island, south of Japan, in order to set up camp and give the allies leverage to take out Japan.

John Henry, a Vietnam Veteran, noted that although the U.S. Marines were predominate in the invasion, all branches of the U.S. Armed Forces played a role.

Today, we salute the brave men and women of our U.S. Armed Forces, both past and present, on this day that we remember winning the Battle of Iwo Jima.